


No one could save me (but you)

by WildlingGirl



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Dragons, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, No Book Spoilers, Oaths & Vows, Post - Red Wedding, War, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-24 23:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildlingGirl/pseuds/WildlingGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He came to her in dreams, prophecies they were said to be, the rider with a black cloak under a cover of ice...</p>
            </blockquote>





	No one could save me (but you)

Daenerys Targaryen had won. She had arrived to the land of her birth, Westeros and its' Seven Kingdoms. The land that was stripped away from her, just like the happy childhood she was destined to have in King's Landing, trading it for a life on the run in the company of a brother that would've gladly traded her like a common prostitute to gain said land back. Now, various years later, she was finally home again. She had won the war.

And yet, she felt like the loser.

Thousands of Unsullied had lost their lives in battle. And dothrakis, and mercenaries. No, scratch that, millions had lost their lives in the war, because it had started even before she set a foot in Westeros; the Baratheons and the Starks and the Lannisters and the Greyjoys fighting each other like rabid dogs, leaving the path to the Iron Throne free for her, but at a great cost.

Her dear advisor, Barristan Selmy, had lost his life before her very eyes. He died at peace, an old man who claimed to have lived long enough, and with his last breath still said 'Long live Queen Daenerys'. Daario, the mercenary who desired to seduce her, bravely gave his life to take down the Mountain that Rides, Gregor Clegane, and did it with a grin on his face, showing her that golden teeth one last time. And others, countless others, sacrificed their lives for her sake, for her cause.

They were still fresh, to her, the last words spoken by Cersei Lannister, before she was taken away, a prisoner on the castle that had been her home for the rest of her days.

"In the game of thrones, you don't win without a price" she had declared. "I had power and held a crown in my golden hairs. I was miserable with Robert. I lost my son, my firstborn, to this damned war. I paid my price, and now I have some more to pay. Are you ready to pay the price, Daenerys Targaryen?"

That had been months ago, but the words were printed thick in her brain, unable to be forgotten.

There was only one thing that could make her forget, and that one thing was Jon Snow.

Jon Snow. The man who rode on the North, under the snow, accompanied by a direwolf, a guardian who wore black and swore to protect the Realm, far away from the lands where lords and ladies made the important calls without any regard for the duty and service men like him provided.

It had come to her through a dream, that rider in the North that was facing frozen men under a thick veil of ice and snow, before fire erupted from the sky, from a dragon. It was a prophecy, Quaithe had told her when Dany seeked her in Asshai for answers about this _very_ recurring dream. She was to lead her army to the north of Westeros, and eventually meet this man by the name of Jon Snow, a key figure (in Quaithe's exact words) in the conquest.

It took Dany two years of training herself (and her dragons, naturally) in Essos before setting sail across the Narrow Sea. She knew she needed more, and yet Quaithe was very specific about her time frame; she was to part exactly two years from their meeting on Asshai, not a day before, not a day after. 

The North of Westeros wasn't hard to land on, although they did run into some enemy ships. Greyjoys, men of sea, all of them. And all of them fell before her Unsullied. The dothraki were pretty much useless during said battles, but she couldn't expect much more from them; they were loyal and brave enough to follow her where no dothraki had gone before, that was more that she could even ask for. Plus, having three fully-sized dragons did kind of turn the odds in her favor..

The Wall was even more overwhelming that she had anticipated from the experiences shared by Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah. The latter was rather fearful of going to the Wall, where his father resided as Lord Commander (but out of loyalty to his Queen, he would go there and beyond), at least until they learnt about Lord Mormont's death before their arrival. It actually brought tears to Ser Jorah's eyes, lamenting to have never been able to apologize to his father. Now, Jon Snow was the new Lord Commander of the Wall.

To say in few words, and to use an expression she had heard among the commonfolk, Jon was hot. She had seen him through her dreams, but there was difference between that and reality. Plus, she had been noticing other things, such as the ominous signs of death or the dead-looking ice creatures. Not, say, his broad arms or his charming smile. 

Just an objective observation, of course.

The White Walkers, as Jon referred to them, were very close to breaching through the Wall. There were thousands of them, and not even if her dragons spit fire for an entire day they would kill them all if they didn't come up with a proper plan. The first night they stayed, Daenerys stayed up with Lord Snow and her maiden, Missandei, finishing their strategy for the following day. However, the conversation quickly drifted from that to Dany's ulterior motives in Westeros.

"If you are here to re-conquer Westeros" Jon had asked, as Missandei re-filled his wine. "Then why are you here, on the North, when the war is being fought in the South?"

Dany actually chuckled at his question, leaving him with a puzzled look in return. 

"I was told this by Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah, that your kings and lords have no intention of helping you in the war that's fought in the North. That they only care about their wealth, and their power, and which offspring marry off first. Judging by your question, it seems I was not mistaken."

"Nevertheless, you haven't answered it" Jon retorts, making her smile again.

""I am but a young girl and know little of the ways of ruling, but I believe a true ruler doesn't abandon those who he's meant to protect when he's needed the most" she tilted her head, studying his expression. "I was told about you, on my travels. Your father and brother were killed by the Lannisters, and yet you stayed in the North to protect your men, to lead them. It seems we're not very different, you and I."

Jon was not an idiot, and quickly caught what she was getting at. "Are you asking me to support your cause?"

"Yes, I am" she said bluntly. She gained nothing out of being subtle now. "The Wall should be well protected, that much is true, but how can it be so if those who rule you have turned their backs on you and your men?" Dany drinks the remains of her cup of wine, giving him the chance to catch his breath. "Follow me, and you shall have this that you desire. Men and weapons for the Wall, actual protection."

"You're not the first one to come around with such promises" Jon threw back at her, and Dany had to give him that. "Why should you be any different?"

"Because I'm not making such a promise" she pointed her index finger at his chest. "You are."

Jon's eyebrows went upwards in record time with the surprise. Her lips curved into a thin smile and she leaned in closer, so much that he could smell the beautiful aroma that seemed to emanate naturally from her body.

"Ride with me to King's Landing. Win the war with me. Do this, and you will have your seat in my private council, you will be in charge of all matters concerning the Wall and its' protection" Dany leans in even closer into her personal space, which he was unnervingly fine with by the way. You will have the power to change this situation, for the better."

She smiled again and turned around, ready to leave the room. However, Jon Snow was decided to have the last word of this conversation.

"If what you say is true, Daenerys Targaryen, I will follow you and your cause. But that's only me, the men of the Wall take no sides in the quarrels of the South. No one should be punished, shall we fail, but me."

"Don't worry" she smiled one last time, leaving already. "We won't lose."

Three days later, the plan was ready to be executed, but it was interrupted by the arrival of an unexpected guest. Bran Stark, young man, heir to Winterfell, presumed dead by the world. Accompanied by two brothers, Reeds they would later learn, and a semi-giant with a bizarre verbal tic, the cripple walked into Castle Black from the North, having spent the last two years north of the Wall in search of the Three-Eyed Crow. A metaphor that she had absolutely no idea what it stood for, but was apparently a big deal for him.

Bran not only provided insight of the activities of the White Walkers beyond the Wall (tsix days, tops, before they reached the Wall at last), but Dany also discovered was very much like Jon. They both possessed a kind heart that Dany could identify with, and to which she appealed to, because the thought-to-be-dead boy was (as Ser Jorah was quick to advice her) the key to siding the Umbers, and the Manderlys, and pretty much the entire North. 

The boy wasn't an idiot, she was happy to discover, but she did follow her. Not because he trusted her right away, but because he saw the people riding with her. Dothrakis, freed Unsullied, former slaves; those who called her _Mother_ and _Breaker of Chains_. He would follow her... well, after the White Walkers fell back to being simple stories that mothers told their children during the summer night, of course.

Battles were fought from that day onwards. Lots and lots of them. The White Walkers were just the beginning; the humans could be just as ruthless as them. Some were won, some were lost, but fortunately the former was larger in quantity than the latter. And Dany was fairly sure she would've never made it without Jon.

Sure, when Dany left the Wall, she had only added five to her ranks: Jon Snow, Bran Stark, Jojen Reed, Meera Reed and Hodor (and Summer and Ghost, the direwolves). Not to mention those who she had lost facing the White Walkers, because dragons alone didn't really do the job. It was never that simple. And yet, her numbers quickly multiplied as she marched; the North joined her cause, with the exception of the Boltons, who obviously sided with the Lannisters, seeking control of the North. Walder Frey tried to side with her, but she refused; it would be foolish of her to ever trust a man as ruthless as the host of the Red Wedding.

She gained multiple allies: Rickon Stark, the youngest Stark who came out of hiding after learning the rumors of his brother's march, and his friend Osha the wildling; Sansa Stark and her new husband Tyrion Lannister, who against all odds was actually a decent man as far as Lannisters went; Sandor Clegane, Brienne of Tarth, and even Yara Greyjoy after the successful rescue of Theon Greyjoy took place from the clutches of Ramsay Bolton. 

However, not a single one of them was like Jon. He was a good fighter, a good advisor too, and above all a good man. Dany knew she shouldn't, because this was war and when love met war the heart bled, but she knew she was falling in love with him. And along came that night, that night when she lured him to her tent with fake excuses to talk about it. And the words couldn't come out of her mouth, because how does one articulate something that has no explanation and shouldn't even exist?

Was it because the visions of him gave her some kind of hope? Because the idea that maybe, with him, her land could stop bleeding, her children could stop suffering and crying themselves to sleep every night? Or was it because she just wanted him, as he was, simply because of that?

Whatever the reason, she might never fully know it. All she knew was that, she unexpectedly kissed Jon Snow that night on her tent, a tender kiss that extended for several minutes before he pulled away.

"I swore an oath" he mumbled. "My Queen, I-"

' _An oath you broke when you left the Wall. When you left it for me_ ' she wanted to reply, but instead pulls away from him as well. He retreats, and the night is not spoken of ever again.

Well, not actually. It was forgotten, until the eve of the final battle.

King's Landing was their next and final stop. Their final encounter with the Lannisters was to take place there, and while they did suffer casualties in their last battle against Stannis Baratheon, the man sided with him when Melisandre, the red witch, pointed at her as Azor Ahai. He had felt it his duty to become king, Melisandre had explained, because he saw it fit and it was his right, but her claim was possibly higher that him, and he didn't even want to be one. He did it because it felt it was his duty, only that. And him siding with her meant that whatever remains of supporters he had were also on her side, so it wasn't a shot in the dark they were attempting on here.

Tomorrow, it was the battle that would decide it all. Who lives and who dies. The final stage of the game of thrones.

Daenerys was going over her plans in the sole company of Missandei when Jon Snow walked into her tent. Understanding by the look on his face that this conversation demanded only the two of them, she sent the other girl away, and the former slave quickly complied. The two of them were alone.

"Tomorrow might be the end of this war" Jon stated.

"True" Dany replied.

"Or tomorrow we may all be dead."

She half-smiled. "Also true."

"Then, I shall die knowing that I wasn't a coward in the end" Jon sentenced, took two big steps towards her, and kissed her.

There was an initial shock, but the Targaryen girl didn't take long to recover from it. She took in Jon's lips and wrapped her arms around him, going from his waist all the way to his hair, playing tenderly with the man's curls. His hands wrapped tightly around her waist and Dany allowed him to lift her up, sinking into his warm lips, dropping her into her bed in a mess of lips, tongues and sweaty passion.

Jon descends into her neck, providing kisses to her neck that make her feel like she never had before, holding his body tighter as she allows him to kiss harder and explore her further. She kisses his mouth again, then they part and look into each others' eyes. It's a mutual agreement, and quickly the exploration goes even further.

On the following morning, Dany awakens to meet Jon's bare chest. Wasn't this a pretty vision to start a day that might end in her execution? She runs a curious hand through his perfectly-toned torso and feels a chuckle, so she looks up to meet his affectionate gaze. Those eyes she learnt to love and desire more than anything in this world filled with misery and despair. 

"You know, I still did take that oath..." he begins, but this time Dany's brave and cuts him off.

"I _will_ become Queen today. Then we'll see about that damned oath" and Jon can't help but to smile at her.


End file.
